pAs men and women traveled west to settle America's untamed lands, and tried to strike it rich in gold, they led a simple existence, often carrying the barest necessities from one location to another. Yet they also carried with them their own popular culture, through folk songs, legends, and literature, that has often been mythologized into our present American popular culture. Through primary sources such as letters, diaries, and photographs, the author draws parallels and makes distinctions between the pioneers and cowboys of the past and those of today. Students and fans of the Old West will find this volume a rich source of history for this time period.ppppMany images and items in today's popular culture were born in the time of westward expansion. Log cabins, cowboys such as the Marlboro Man and Woody of I Toy Story R fame, and Levi's jeans, all have their roots in the Old West. Outlaws such as Wild Bill Hikock, Billy the Kid, and Jesse James, and good guys such as Davy Crockett,